How YOU can pay less with Rea Vaya points

In case you're missing out on the great savings offered by Rea Vaya's new points system, here's a few examples of how to get the most value out of your commute.

With Rea Vaya's new points system of paying for fares, commuters can save money on their transport in two ways:

Firstly, if you load your smartcard at any Rea Vaya station, where your cash gets you Rea Vaya points, you don't pay loading fees. (Whereas if you load at an Absa cash-accepting ATM, loading fees are still deducted.)

Secondly, if you load with larger amounts, you score bonus points - and bonus points get you FREE extra trips on Rea Vaya.

HOW TO SCORE BONUS POINTS - THE BASICS

Up until 30 June, loading R51 or more at a time will get you bonus points of up to 25%. The more you load, the more you score:

Load between R51 and R100 - you get 10% in bonus points.

Load between R101 and R200 - you get 15% in bonus points.

Load between R201 and R300 - you get 20% in bonus points.

Load between R301 and R700 - you get 25% in bonus points.

That's up to one-quarter the value of your money in FREE Rea Vaya travel points - just for loading your card.

And from 1 July? The bonus points don't end on 30 June. You'll still score from 1 July, but at a moderated rate of up to 12.5%.

So be sure to take advantage of the special bonus rate for May and June! Here's a few examples of how to do this.

HOW YOU SAVE WITH BONUS POINTS - FOR EXAMPLE

Your daily commute: C4 from Library Gardens in the CBD to UJ Sophiatown Res in Auckland Park and back.

Distance-based fare: Your trip is between 5 and 10 kilometres each way, so your distance-based fare is R7.60 each way - R14.60 return each day.

Monthly cost: That adds up to R306.60 per month (assuming 21 working days in the month).

So how can you save, and how much can you save, with Rea Vaya points? You can save simply by loading larger amounts (at least R51) at the same time - the larger the amount, the more you save. For example:

If you load just R51 each time you load, then on top of your 51 regular points you'll get 5.1 bonus points (10% bonus) for free. That's R5.10 worth of free trips - which means that after loading 3 times you'll have a R15.30 surplus: enough for 2 free trips. Keep saving like that, and pretty soon you'll have enough for a FREE WEEK of travel!

If you load R301 at the same time, then on top of your 301 regular points you'll get 75.2 bonus points (25% bonus) for free. That's R75.20 worth of free trips - in your case, just short of 10 trips, or almost a full week's commute, for free. Keep saving like that, and pretty soon you'll have enough for a FREE MONTH of travel!